1. Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the conveying of containers, in particular of plastics material containers and in particular of plastics material pre-forms.
2. Description of Related Art
In the production of beverage containers, it is typical for plastics material pre-forms to be heated, and shaped while in a heated state in a shaping machine, such as a stretch blow moulding machine. The plastics material pre-forms are usually separated from each other when fed to a heating device, such as an infrared or microwave furnace. Here, the pre-forms are rotated about their own axis during their heating. For this reason, it is necessary for the plastics material pre-forms, which usually arrive in a continuous flow, to be separated.
So-called single-step star wheels are commonly used in the prior art as part of a separation operation of the pre-forms. The wheels typically have a serrated profile on their external periphery. This profile has an effect whereby the plastics material pre-forms, which arrive in a continuous flow, are removed piece by piece and are thereby separated. A drawback of this procedure is the constantly interrupted inflow of the pre-forms from an outflow rail during the shearing into the aforesaid serrated star wheel. This disruption to the inflow causes operational breakdowns at high power and also in the case of infelicitous geometry of the plastics material pre-forms.